McLaren F1 Reviews

1994 McLaren F1 BMW M power S70/2 6.1 litre V12 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

#022 Mclaren Formula One Road Car - An Eleven Year Old Legend

Faults:

The car is absolutely wonderful, yet only one thing has gone with the car: the transmission. Your probably thinking that would be impossible due to the reliability of Mclaren's transverse 6-speed race inspired super-car, but no, the tranny had to be fixed for a couple thousand. But the thing is, it wasn't the car's fault, it was mine. I wrecked the car when I took it out for a drive; I rear-ended a BMW (ironic isn't it?) going about 60 mph on the freeway. It was my fault because I tried to pass him and he changed lanes as I was making the turn (I'm not sure if he used his blinker or not). And to add to all this chaos, the people at Mclaren Int. weren't to pleased when the received the data. All the events mentioned above occurred happened in 2002, since then, the car has been repaired and I am now using it as a show car for guests and for various events.

General Comments:

The car cost me nearly 900k when I purchased it from a private dealer in the UK, it also came with a gold-plated tool kit. (I've heard that McLaren also includes a special engraved watched, but I didn't bother to ask the owner), since then I have shipped it to the US where most of my business is located. When I purchased it, the interior was black, since then I have added a new two-toned interior that is black and blue to match the car's body; now all this would-be simple customization was simple at all, I had to negotiate with McLaren for them to comply with the new interior (it is true, we, the owners, truly do not own the car). Personally, the interior was a little odd at first due to the centered-seating (it was a big change from other cars I've owned), but after awhile I got comfortable with it. Thankfully the owner was about my size so I fit comfortably in the seat and it needed no size adjustment. Also the chassis number is #022.

Now lets get to the performance of Mclaren's Formula One super car. First off, I will talk about the cons of it's performance. It doesn't have the basic luxuries I'm used to; it has no Anti-Lock Brake System (my previous car had no ABS either so it wasn't too much of a hassle), and it also has no traction control- which the S7 did have. Not necessarily a con because you have the feeling of control, and let me tell you, the phrase, "This car is seriously quick and handles like it's on rails." pretty much puts it into perspective.

The F1's dual wishbone and coaxial spring suspension make for exellent handeling plus the dampers you feel weightless (unless you hit something!). Although the ride is smooth, the interior is quite noisy at hi revs, however, it's quite easy to drown the engine's roaring out with the Kenwood sound system which is a raging bass beast.

The engine is one of standard engines, when compared to models like the LM, or #073, yet it is still powerful and dominates the automotive world with a top speed of 240.1 mph (which I have yet to match) and 627 hp at 7500 rpm and 479.0 ft lbs of torque at 5600 rpm, even though the S7 had a bigger engine, this thing is a cheetah compared to it and other exotics. With all this preformance you know this thing guzzles gas like a drunk frat boy, but that is not much of an issue for me.

The last thing on this review is the body, it has extreme aerodynamics so this baby can withstand high speeds and although this thing is sleek, I don't think it looks as say a Ferrari Enzo or Saleen S7. But for me, looks aren't a major issue, it's speed, and with a 0 to 60 time of 3.1 seconds, this is a killer exotic.

There are a lot of other cool things about this car that has drawn me to it; the modem system that Mclaren monitors 'their' car with (it can be quite a hassle), it has more storage and passenger capacity than most exotics, it was a first in the car world to use a carbon fiber-titanium alloy body, has unique gold heat shielding for the mid-longitudinal engine, and it broke the land speed record for a street legal car.